file a request with local government to reassess or tax relief, buy a home in a lower tax district or take your case to court.  Michigan is dealing with so many disgruntled homeowners that the highest state tax court has 24,000 cases pending.  Homestead exemptions and programs for elderly can provide some relief.  Locally, the initial notification will be dispersed in May to homeowners.  This is called the Notice of Valuation (NoV).  In the State of Colorado, pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute 39-1-103(5)(a), residential properties may only be valued according to the Market approach.  The Assessor’s office, under the supervision of Mark Lowderman,  must determine actual market value based upon size, amenities, location, etc. looking at sales in the previous eighteen months with a focus on the most recent portion of the time period.  If after receiving the NoV , you are concerned that the value is too high, take a look at the local market to find comparables and file an appeal through the Assessor’s website.  An appeal can only be made based upon house value, not tax rate.  The directions may be found on the back of the NoV.

Continuing our watch of the shadow inventory and its potential impact upon local housing market, we liked an article in the WSJ this week.  There isn’t an exact means by which we can determine exactly how many homes are near or in foreclosure.  RealtyTrac does claim to cover 92% of U.S. transactions through monitoring assessor transactions and estimates there is over 700,000 houses in foreclosure making up the so-called shadow inventory. Barclay’s estimates slightly higher.  All teams conducting research agree that the numbers will peak over the summer and decline.  It is expected that this is the last peak of foreclosure activity.   We will continue digging in the local numbers as this will impact the market over the course of the next real estate season.